So I was in Beirut for a closed workshop on ISIS and my visit coincided with the trash strike. So I, the sensitive and delicate creature, was severly affected and was clearly food poisoned there. All what you hear about the new rules for food preparation is untrue. I bought a labne container from the state-run COOP in Hamra and the next day it was rotten. Trash was everywhere. I also probably should not have purchased dairy desserts from one of my favorite places, Zaatarwazeit.

PS It hit me. This has been the longest absence from the blog ever since it was launched some 12 years ago this summer.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Huffington Post Arabic is managed by the former manager of Aljazeera: so the sensibilities are reflective of the Qatari regime and its allies. It is basically Ikhwan "light". And Queen Rania? Really? Arab youth are eager to read what Western consultants have written for her? And the Syrian opposition writer, Hakam Al-Baba is a featured blogger? This sectarian agitator who believes that there should be no assurances to minorities in Syria after the Saudi-Qatari victory there? This is a guy who faulted Al-Julani for his moderation. This is a guy who has defended the worst Jihadi groups in Syria. Welcome to the liberation Huffington Post in Arabic.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

"U.S. authorities arrested four people in Israel and Florida Tuesday, some of whom are believed to be tied to computer hacks of JPMorgan Chase and other financial institutions." "To do this, used bank and brokerage accounts that were opened "using aliases, false and fraudulent passports, and other false identification," the indictment said."

"Eleven British personnel are “providing mentoring and advice” to the Saudi National Guard, which is a special arm of the Gulf state’s forces that is tasked with protecting the royal family from potential crises including coups."

"There is no doubt that ability to move backwards and forwards across the 550-mile long Syrian-Turkish border has been crucial to the growth of the jihadi movements in Syria since 2011. The thousands of foreign volunteers who have flooded into Syria have almost all come from Turkey. Even those unable to speak Turkish or Arabic have had little difficulty in making their way across. In many respects, Turkey has provided a safe sanctuary for Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, playing a similar role as Pakistan does in support of providing safe haven for the Taliban in Afghanistan." "A Syrian rebel offensive led by Jabhat al-Nusra was allegedly masterminded from an operational headquarters inside Turkey and was the outcome of a closer understanding between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar." (thanks Amir)

Since this propagandist of various Saudi princes is often cited in Western media as an independent Arab voice, I thought I would share this characterization of his about the differences between the Iranian and Saudi projects in the region:
"Either us with our participatory democratic project which includes all, and would build our plurastic Yemen and Syria, or them iwth their narrow sectarian project". If you were reading this would you not think it is a joke?
هناك، فلا يخف ضغطنا إلا أن نرى منهم استجابة لهذا المشروع، أما غير ذلك فهو الاستمرار في المواجهة الكبرى التي لا تحتمل أنصاف الحلول، فإما نحن بمشروعنا الديموقراطي التشاركي الذي يستوعب الجميع، وبناء شامنا ويمننا التعددي، وإما هم بمشروعهم الطائفي الضيق.

"Shiite rebels and their allies in Yemen randomly shelled a town outside Aden on Sunday after losing control of some of the port city’s neighborhoods, killing at least 45 people and wounding 120, officials said." This is hilarious when they attribute information to "officials in Yemen", as if there is a state in Yemen which is above the social and political conflict. THe government in Yemen of which this correspondent speaks is the Hadi Mansur regime.

From Fred: "As I constant and devoted visitor to your blog, I feel impelled to offer a slight correct to your post on the projected opening of a McDonald’s franchise in Tehran.

Actually, several years ago—in the early days of S. Mohammad Khatami’s government—a McDonald’s franchise was to be opened at a choice location in North Tehran, where the demographics and socio-political outlook of the population would almost certainly guarantee success.

But just before opening day, the restaurant was surrounded by a very large and militant demonstration of « students » who vowed to block the enterprise. To no one’s surprise, they were successful and the project evaporated.

"Why does it matter? Because LGBT Iranians shouldn’t be exploited for propaganda. They lead lives seamed by danger, distinguished by courage; they deserve better than to be backgammon pieces, passive tokens stacked and shifted in a great-power political game. LGBT people should speak in their own voices, be masters and heroes of their own lives. That is what the liberation struggle is about.

The fact that nobody — not Tatchell, not Ben Weinthal, not Gay Star News — bothered to ask LGBT Iranian activists or groups what the truth was, or whether they wanted a demonstration, is appalling. But it’s typical. The story of Western engagement with LGBT rights in Iran has been one of occupation and ventriloquism, not freedom. It’s long past time for the sick game to stop."

"That the New York Times mindlessly disseminates claims from anonymous officials with great regularity is, at this point, too well-documented to require much discussion. But it is worth observing how damaging it continues to be, because, shockingly, all sorts of self-identified “journalists” — both within the paper and outside of it — continue to equate un-verified assertions from government officials as Proven Truth, even when these officials are too cowardly to attach their names to these claims, as long as papers such as the NYT launder them." "All anyone in government has to do is whisper something in its journalists’ ears, demand anonymity for it, and instruct them to print it. Then they obey. Then other journalists treat it as Truth. Then it becomes fact, all over the world."

"Saudi Arabia is another case in point. Here is a state which doesn’t know the meaning of free speech, which beheads its citizens, tolerates forced marriages, defines political opposition as terrorism, and arranges the persecution of homosexuals (last year a Saudi man was sentenced to three years in jail and 450 lashes after he was caught using Twitter to arrange dates with other men: a married man found engaging in homosexual acts can be stoned to death). Yet David Cameron treats the Saudi Arabia as one of our closest allies." "The contradiction between the prime minister’s support for democracy in Britain and dictators in the Middle East is very dangerous."

"Angry residents of a small Texan town have threatened to put pigs’ heads on poles and pour the blood onto land which has been earmarked for a Muslim cemetery. The latest manifestation of anti-Islamic sentiment in America surrounds a small plot of undeveloped land 35 miles north-east of Dallas." (thanks Amir)

Basim sent me this under the headline: "Angry Arab's influence on Reuters": "I think Saudi Arabia would seriously try to get the bomb if Iran did. It's just like India and Pakistan. The Pakistanis said for years they didn't want one, but when India got it, so did they," said Jamal Khashoggi, head of a Saudi news channel owned by a prince. " (thanks Basim)

It is exciting news and it only proves what we have known all along: that the copy of the Qur'an read today is pretty much the same copy that was produced in the era of `Uthman, although Orientalists tried very hard to either discover variations or to exaggerate the impact of diacritical marks in the reading of the Qur'an (like Patricia Crone). But what is missing from the news is this: how did a Qur'an from Arabia wound up in the UK? The answer is simple. There was an Iraqi priest who was hired in the 20th century to either steal or buy at cheap prices old Arabic manuscripts and books. Sadly, Philip Hitti did the same for the Princeton collection. Those stolen objects and manuscripts need to be returned to the region although no government there dares call for their return. Nasser's regime, to its credit, used to bring up the issue with Western governments.

This improvised shell (using cylinders of gas) are called "artillery of hell", and are a staple of the indiscriminate shelling by Syrian rebels. How much accuracy do you think that they have? Yesterday, in response to advances by Syrian regime troops in Zabadani, Syrian rebels started to shell the hell out of rif Idlib. How come those shells are not as infamous as barrel bombs (which have been used to Western media acclaim) by Lebanese Army against Nahr Al-Barid refugee camp in 2007.

Former Middle East correspondent for Reuters, wrote this article about his experience covering Saudi Arabia for Reuters. His name was mentioned in Saudi cables of Wikileaks. I asked him to write the article and he wrote it in Arabic. A rare correspondent.

"Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ordered the release of a new “revised” version of the Koran in order to correct “distortion” and “misleading” lessons, state television reports." This is an outright lie and fabrication circulated by Rose Troup Buchanan's friends in the propaganda offices of Syrian rebels. The actual story according to the official announcement is that the revision is in the print and calligraphy of the letters. See that you can say anything about Syria provided it is damaging about one side.

PS: Here is the official statement on the matter. Too bad that Rose only reports what she hears from the propaganda of GCC rebels in Syria and Istanbul.

PPS: Patrick Cockburn is a pleasant exception. One brave journalist who does not follow the Western conventional wisdom.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Now that there is news that McDonald's may be opening in Iran, does that not yet again foil the stupid theory of Thomas Friedman that two countries with McDonald's restaurants in them can't possibly go to war?

Furthermore, the control of most of Arabia by House of Saud--especially of Hijaz--prevented any archeological digging in Mecca or Medina (not withstanding the digging that they permitted over the house of Khadijah to build the new Hilton Hotel and Casino in Mecca). We would have learned so much about the early history of Islam had those Wahhai reactionaries allowed it.

I received this from a colleague in France:
"I rather agree with your interpretation in general, though not in detail. I was a student of Patricia Crone’s when she was young, though I didn’t follow her career later.

She was a brilliant historian, with all the advantages and disadvantages that that implies. Brilliant interpretation, but a lack of common sense.

A couple of years after the publication of “Hagarism”, she told me that even she didn’t believe it. It was a raspberry blown against traditional interpretations of the origins of Islam. That was characteristic of her work: in “Meccan Trade” she blew a raspberry on Meccan trade under Quraysh, but failed to come up with a characterisation of what it really was.

The other fundamental point is that in the time that I knew her, she had never visited Arab/Muslim countries, only Jerusalem. She may have visited later, but not in the formative years, when I knew her. It was all an intellectual construct.

I should say that in my field, the traditional story of the origins of Islam is not that far from being true. My material doesn’t speak of the origins of Islam, but what happened subsequently is conform with the description."

I have been re-reading her since her death: to be critical of her approach and conclusions (and her harsh judgment on matters Islamic) is not to maintain in everything she wrote. Of course, not. I certainly agree with her that Islamic history as written by Muslim is woefully one-sided and one-dimensional and a prisoner of one body of materials.

This is a new trend now: New York Times will now blame all bombings in Gaza on "extremists" in order to absolve Israel from crimes it has been committing non-stop since the 1930s. " A series of explosions destroyed several vehicles belonging to officials of the militant Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Sunday, the latest in a series of attacks in Gaza attributed to extremists who have aligned themselves with the Islamic State." Attributed? By Israeli propagandists like you?

"Local militias backed by Saudi Arabia, special forces from the United Arab Emirates and al Qaeda militants all fought on the same side this week to wrest back control over most of Yemen’s second city, Aden, from pro-Iranian Houthi rebels, according to local residents and Houthi forces." "Meanwhile, Saudi-backed militias are spearheading efforts to roll back Houthi gains and reinstate the government that the rebels drove into exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia. But they have turned to Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, for help, according to local residents and a senior Western diplomat. This puts the U.S.-allied Gulf kingdom on the same side as one of the world’s most notorious extremist groups."

"Libya’s decimation was the inevitable result of the removal of its government, and the removal of its government was the express goal of the US-NATO war. To build support for the military offensive, American officials lied about the humanitarian threat posed by Qaddafi; to execute it, they empowered and armed an opposition coalition they knew was rife with al-Qaeda allies and other reactionary forces."

"Thousands of foreign fighters have rushed from Western and Arab countries to join the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) group, with many choosing Raqqa as their new home in a move to build their burgeoning state. But while the new recruits detail a utopian existence in the caliphate, sharing pictures of abundances of food and luxury on social media, locals say the migrants are occupying the city and treat their hosts as second-class citizens."

As you know, most Western journalists in the Middle East don't have a command of Arabic although they hire a bevy of local staffers who speak the language (and most of those are also past or future workers in Saudi and Qatari media, so their politics is always to the right of Muhammad bin Salman--just in case). When the Jewish Quarter TV serial started airing in Ramadan, the Western media could not see any TV serial except this one. You can even google to see that of all the TV serials, only this one got coverage. They heard that the serial has a "good" portrayal of Arab Jews, contrary to Western Zionist depiction of Arabs as anti-Semitic. But it was very clear that that they didn't watch the show: Al-Akhbar TV critic, Zaynab Hawi, tells me that the show actually was more complex and while it avoided any anti-Jewish references, it was firmly anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli. None of the Western writers noticed that. I didn't watch the serial so I am relying on her. Yet, Liberation (the neo liberation which should not be confused with the old Liberation), the French publication decided that the show is in fact anti-Semitic.

"Palestinians entangled in lawsuits to claim ownership of properties grabbed by the state of Israel have found a new sidekick in their legal battle: The Ottomans or rather, the archives of the now-defunct empire, which once ruled present-day Israel, Palestine and much of the Middle East for centuries.

Turkey opened the Ottoman land registry archives to Palestinian litigants so that Israel "can't tell Palestinians this land is not yours," said Kudret Bülbül, the head of a Turkish agency overseeing the process."

ISIS specifically targeted leftists in the bombing in Turkey. But leftists around the world have no support and no regime sponsor. Those will be the most forgotten victims and Western powers will not convene special meetings about their plight, and no one will lobby the White House on their behalf.

"Mr. Cameron called on his country’s Muslims to work with the government to “condemn conspiracy theories,” reject violence and speak more forcefully “to challenge and defeat” the extremist misinterpretation of Islam, which he called “a religion of peace.” While extremists “self-identify” with Islam, Mr. Cameron said, “we need to challenge them and need the help of Muslim scholars to help defeat them, and Muslim communities and scholars to say they’re wrong.”" On conspiracy theories: would he call on American non-Muslims for their strong propensity to conspiracy theory on UFOs, Kennedy assassination, and the Trilateral Commission?

Monday, July 20, 2015

"Kammenos said the “Greek people are very close to the people in Israel,” adding that military bilateral relations are good, and that both countries will continue to build on them through joint training. Terror - ism and jihad, he added, are not just in the Middle East, but are also present in the Balkans and Europe.

Greece is within range of Iranian missiles, he added. “If one Iranian missile makes its way to the Mediterranean, this could be the end of states in this region,” the Greek defense minister said. "

"He said today: “This whole idea of talking about a nuclear arms race in the Middle East without admitting who’s racing is bizarre. You can’t talk about a race without admitting that some have not only left the starting line, but have lapped the field.” Grant has used the Freedom of Information Act and initiated a lawsuit to obtain U.S. documents relating to Israel’s nuclear weapons program." (thanks Amir)

Sunday, July 19, 2015

This entire article is based on anonymous "analysts" but it becomes clear quickly that it is based on the views of ONE analyst: "“What the Druze are showing is that groups that have been in the regime's orbit are feeling they're on their own in this war, that they can't rely on the government,” said Andrew Tabler, a Middle East expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy."

"“The Jewish Quarter” is now dominating the Palestinian broadcast market, garnering a 40 percent share during prime-time viewing." By the way, far from the contents of this article, the show in question was not nearly in the top lists of Ramadan TV serials. Don't get me wrong: it was by far the favorite among the Western correspondents in the Middle East who wrote articles about it after the first episode.

Notice in the accompanying map, areas in Syria under the control of Al-Qa`idah (Nusrah Front), are referred to as "opposition areas". What is next? Dhawahiri will be referred to as the Egyptian reformer?

"The Islamic State appears to have manufactured rudimentary chemical warfare shells and attacked Kurdish positions in Iraq and Syria with them as many as three times in recent weeks, according to field investigators, Kurdish officials and a Western ordnance disposal technician who examined the incidents and recovered one of the shells."

"The Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America issued a joint statement saying they had scrutinized the [Iran nuclear] pact and found it “seriously wanting,”calling the inspection regime insufficient and the billions of dollars in sanctions for relief for Iran unacceptable. They said they would be mobilizing rabbis and synagogues across the nation to oppose the measure and urge lawmakers to reject it." But why would the Rabbical Council be qualified to render an opinion on a highly technical agreement?

One may not like the work or conclusions of Patricia Crone but she can't be dismissed or ignored. I enjoyed reading her although I was put off by her methodology and her political agenda. Her hostility to Islam and Muslims became harder to mask over the years, in her essays or book reviews. The weakness of her methodology in her studies of early Islam is this: she is highly skeptical of Arab and Islamic sources but she is not equally skeptical of non-Arab and non-Islamic sources especially if they fit her conclusions (and her conclusions sometimes appear to precede her research). She, as is known, later admitted that Hagarism contained many mistakes, or that there was "a lot" of it and in it that was wrong. Crone chose Bernard Lewis as her dissertation adviser and the choice, in the climate of Middle Eastern studies, is telling politically speaking. I don't criticize Crone as an Orientalist, but as more hostile and agenda-driven (obsessed really) than the classical Orientalist. The worst is that for someone who is so skeptical of Islamic and Arab sources on Islam, she did not dismiss out of hand nor did she refute the joke of a book by one Israeli archeologist (with a BA in archeology), Yehuda Nevo and Judith Koren (she is a publicity expert, I think, but certainly not a scholar), Crossroads to Islam: The Origins of the Arab religion and the Arab State. The book is comparable to to literature of hate of Holocaust denial, and it basically denies the historical existence of Muhammad and the Islamic conquests, and claims that the religion was invented much later. I felt that Crone liked the book for the politically provocative message. But she was diligent: that you can't deny.

"An Israeli human rights group on Monday challenged the military’s account of an episode in which a soldier shot and killed a Palestinian youth who had hurled a rock at the soldier’s vehicle, saying that video and witnesses’ accounts contradicted the army’s version of the incident."

"As I argued in a number of recent articles in the “Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry”, and in my next book titled “Arab Modernists’ Struggle with the Past”, the encounter with Europe, especially after the Napoleonic invasion, led intellectuals to interact with post-medieval European thought — particularly the thought of Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason.

In that age, reason was proclaimed as the highest authority in analysis and inquiry, and whatever that came before was debunked as regressive, dark, menacing or surreptitious.

Goethe treated the European Middle Ages as Dark Ages. Almost every thinker thought so. Arab scholars applied the same yardstick that orientalists did when they read Arab or Islamic history. They also periodised that history into Classical, Medieval and Modern. Hence the use of the phrase “Middle Ages” as “Ages of Darkness” and “Decadence” or “inhitat”. "

"A new federal screening program designed to ferret out terrorists working for government-backed nonprofit organizations is drawing sharp criticism from groups that say the vetting is overly intrusive, undermines their mission, and may endanger the lives of their employees."

I have been reading and watching about Omar Sharif and stumbled on this interview with him in Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat (the mouthpiece of King Salman and his children) and in it he says: "90 % of all those who control cinema and capital in the world, and the directors and producers, are Jews".

Here Ms. Ghattas propagandizes on why the cables should not embarrass the Saudi royal family: "There are no calls to cut off anyone’s head in the Saudi cables". Does this not remind you of the those neo-Nazis who maintain that Hitler was treated unfairly because there was no order for the Holocaust which bears his name?
And then she says: "Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar, which conveniently omitted any details about Iran’s aggressive behavior in the region relayed in the same cables." What on earth is she talking about here, when Al-Akhbar provided links to the documents and printed some of them in full? Or is she asking why Al-Akhbar does not parrot Saudi and Hariri propaganda like she does--not to mention her hagiography of Hillary Clinton.

"Of course, the real question is how Ahrar fighters behave on the ground toward minority groups. Here Ahrar’s record is problematic. Its fighters appear to have been involved in extrajudicial killing of Alawi civilians during fighting in Latakia in 2013, and there are accusations that it desecrated Christian sites in Kasab in 2014. But the group also issued a video showing its fighters visiting priests in April 2015 to reassure Christians of their safety."

"Any historical examination of America in the first decade
post-9/11 is an examination of a country that has completely lost its mind.
Wars were launched against those who didn’t attack the US, and stronger
relationships were built with those who aided and abetted the September 11
attacks." "Innocent men and boys were beaten, starved, raped and
murdered because the Bush Administration believed meaningful information could
be garnered by the use of torture."

From Basim: "The Supreme Court declared Thursday as the last day of Ramadan 2015 and Friday as the start of the Eid al-Fitr holidays. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Royal Court said a number of adult witnesses in a number of provinces across the kingdom have testified to have seen with the naked the new moon of the month of Shawwal 1436 in the Islamic calendar."

Comic by Terry Furry, reproduced from "Heard the One About the Funny Leftist?" by Cris Thompson, East Bay Express

As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.

The comments that appear in the comments' section are unedited and uncensored. The thoughtful and thoughtless, sane and insane, loving and hateful, wise and unwise ideas that they contain do not represent the Angry Arab. They only represent those who write them, whoever they are.